A note from the blog owner, Jona: I haven’t been to Vang Vieng myself, but this was not the first time I heard about hostels offering free whiskeys to guests in aaos. Tobias and I stayed in Luang Prabang, Laos for three nights, and we personally had a nasty encounter with the police. Rape and victim blaming/shaming culture is terribly strong everywhere and even institutionalized in poor countries like Laos. So travelers, especially my fellow women out there, please be warned. Keshi who recently traveled to Laos originally posted the following in a travel group on Facebook. I asked her permission […]

DISCLAIMER: This first appeared on my column Down South on TV5’s Interaksyon.com. Included a lot of photos here! This is a personal experience. Corruption in Laos is real. Corruption in my own county is effing real. A glass wall divided us. That must be sufficient as a border for the immigration officer to pocket the 5000 kip in plain sight. He asked for it without any explanation or receipt in return. On the other window, Tobias had to negotiate with another IO on the conversion of $25. 450 000 Kip was too much payment for his visa on arrival. We […]